The third annual Overlook Film Festival has wrapped up in New Orleans, Louisiana, bringing to a close another year of genre films, immersive experiences, virtual reality offerings, podcast recordings, and so much more, making for a customizable experience designed solely for the horror fan. That it’s set in the thick of one of America’s most haunted cities means that the potential for horror experiences extends beyond the festival, too. This recap gives just a glimpse of the atmosphere provided by the team behind the Overlook Film Festival.
Ghost Tours
New Orleans has no shortage of voodoo, ghost, vampire, and swamp tours available to brave souls who converge into the French Quarter. Two particular tour companies were community supporters and sponsors of the festival. Overlook offered the press an opportunity to take a morning ghost tour with Haunted History Tours, one that took us to key stops in the French Quarter while detailing historical yet graphic accounts of death and murder that occurred over the centuries. From a hotel that was once a hospital during the Civil War, where many limbs were gruesomely amputated, to the home of sadistic slave killer Delphine LaLaurie- you don’t have to be a believer in ghosts to enjoy these tours. Just a fan of the macabre.
Daniel Isn’t Real
Adam Egypt Mortimer’s sophomore feature made its world premiere at SXSW, where Trace called the film “a near-perfect combination of body horror, cosmic horror and psychological horror that gets under your skin” in his review. His assessment of the production design and the performances are all spot on; Daniel Isn’t Real takes the imaginary friend concept to some truly unexpected and nightmarish places. Patrick Schwarzenegger is great as the amiable yet menacing Daniel, but the film belongs to Miles Robbins as lead protagonist Luke, the man unsure if he’s coping with mental illness or something more. An abrupt and choppy montage in the beginning makes for a confusing entry into the mesmerizing world, and the depictions of mental illness might ruffle some feathers, but Mortimer’s second feature has a lot to offer. It’s a stunning mindbender in the best way. Someone needs to snatch this up for distribution asap.
The Lodge
The closing night film of the fest, Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s second feature packed the theater to capacity in short order thanks to the buzz from Sundance. Our own Meredith said the film “is crafted for utmost discomfort, making for a relentless onslaught of unease,” in her review. It’s true. Fiala and Franz present an oppressive, bleak story from the outset and only coils the dread tighter as it continues. There are no twists here; the directors lay out exactly what’s going to happen ahead of time, making the journey that much more uncomfortable and haunting. The Lodge is a vicious, mean spirited film that’s sure to leave a mark. It’s hardly the scariest film ever made, but it is one that’s so heavy and bleak that it’ll linger in your mind long after. And Riley Keough is a revelation. Luckily NEON will be releasing this one in the fall.
Paperbacks from Hell II: Think of the Children
Author and screenwriter Grady Hendrix (We Sold Our Souls, My Best Friend’s Exorcism, Mohawk) also happens to be one hell of an orator. His live show based on his book Paperbacks from Hell has played from London to L.A., and told of the rise and fall of horror paperbacks in the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with the dramatic flair and addictive sense of humor that’s pure Hendrix. The Overlook premiered his work-in-progress follow-up, which chronicled the roots of teen fiction all the way through the end of teen fiction thanks to Harry Potter. If you think that sounds dull, you don’t remember teen fiction. It’s far more bizarre than you could ever remember, and, thanks to Hendrix, a lot funnier. It builds toward one captivating finale in which Hendrix invokes the holy spirit of teen horror that is Christopher Pike, and the entire audience was throwing their hands up in praise- all hail Hendrix and this glorious highlight of the fest.
